National Qualifications Framework and Qualifications and Credit Framework (NQF/QCF)

The majority of our qualifications have been accredited to one of two qualification frameworks. This page will provide you with more information about each framework and explain why they are important.

Move from QCF to RQF

The QCF unit bank closed on 30 September 2015. All Awarding Organisations, including Pearson, will be removing QCF from their qualification titles by the end of 2017. A new framework has been developed called the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) introduced on 1 October 2015.

Awarding organisations, like Pearson, develop units which go into a national database. We then design qualifications by combining several units together.
The same units may be used in different qualifications and you gain credits for each unit you complete.

NQF qualifications can be made up of units, but your qualification will only be recognised when you complete the course in full.

The size of a qualification is defined in terms of the number of credits.

To gain a BTEC Award, you must complete 1-12 credits

To gain a BTEC Certificate, you must complete 13-36 credits

To gain a BTEC Diploma, you must complete 37 credits and above

Credits are a measure of how long it would take the average student to complete all of the learning outcomes in the unit to the standard required. This is sometimes called 'notional learning time'.

One credit is equivalent to 10 hours' notional learning time.

For more details, see the examples below.

The size of a qualification is judged by the number of hours of teaching time, or Guided Learning Hours (GLH), needed to deliver the qualification.

For example, the content criteria, set by Ofqual, for a GCSE in Physics states the specification "must contain sufficient additional appropriate content to merit 120-140 guided learning hours". This means that students should expect 120-140 hours of teaching when completing a GCSE in Physics.

Examples of how a QCF qualification is structured

If you chose to do a level 2 BTEC First in Applied Science, you have the following options available: